Back
by iluvobiwan91
Summary: ONE-SHOT Rinzler is triggered back by someone he knew before...


**Title: **Back to Tron

**Author:** i_luv_obiwan91 (a.k.a. Codi Lyn)

**Rating: **PG-13

**Characters: **Rinzler-Tron/OFC

**Summary:** Tron's lover from before his re-purpose has finally been caught from running rogue all these cycles. But the one thing she's thought she's lost at last has actually been found.

**Author's Note:** I had this idea running in my head, it's a one-shot, for sure. I dig OC's and I very much dig the character Tron. ^_^

Reye sprinted desperately through the alleys of Tron City, even with the knowledge that there was no hope without a light cycle, and even if you did it just prolonged your fleeing before imminent termination. Still, there had to be some way of escape, some semblance of hope in the form of light pulses lining through the endless black of the Grid.

Growing breathless, she could hear the hum of light cycles closing in on her and quickly turned a corner where a hasty prayer to the users above could be whispered. One light cycle whizzed by in a flash of gaudy orange ribbon, then another. The program held her breath, unbelieving, willing the minions of CLU not to return and disintegrate her as easily as they had countless others. Willing her bright white pulse to calm, she listened as footsteps, slow and sure, approached. Along with it, came the clicking purr recognizable to every program on the Grid. _Rinzler._

His constant vibration affected her pulse and he turned into the corner where she hid, alerted by the flickering light of her suit. It was less than a second before he had her pinned on the ground, his identity disk hovering about her throat.

A tear fell from her bright grey eyes as she tried to think of how she had avoided this end for so many cycles. What had been the point? When had life ever been worth living? For a while it had, she remembered, now. _He_ made it worth it. And then when he vanished, it had been his memory. Now, he was so far away, there was so little hope left.

With a gasp, she uttered that name which had kept her going for so long. "Tron…" At that moment, Rinzler froze; as if she had spoken the sole command he could not disobey. He regarded her silently, his humming changing from aggressive to—if possible—comprehending.

Another sound became apparent soon and was recognized as the minions' light-cycles approaching. Rinzler tensed as he heard it and swiftly sheathed his identity disks, drawing out instead his light beam and pulling her to him so that when it manifested, she rode the bike in a seat behind him, forced to hold on tight or be thrown off. Were they _both_ running now? Baffled, but too filled with adrenaline to think longer upon it, Reye clung to her—once enemy, but now—savior and calculated, as he did, where to turn and how to maneuver so as to survive this kind of chase.

To any passer-by it seemed like just another set of CLU's force chasing a light-colored rogue program, with Rinzler at the lead, as always. Yet what they did not know as they watched and dodged the light-cycle procession, was that their feared and awed warrior was now the prey.

Reye watched the skyscrapers of the Grid pass them by at high speeds and began formulating an escape, remembering paths that led to where no light-cycle could travel. The Outlands. It was a long shot, literally, but between them both, they might make it even if the cycle could not. Gaining Rinzler's attention, she pointed toward the rocky bluffs and mountains so unlike the planned and orderly lines of the organized Grid, gesturing briefly what they could do. He swerved suddenly to take out one of his former 'comrades' with their energy ribbon before nodding to her and moving in the opposite direction to follow her instructions.

As they made for a cliff-side, Reye became less confident in her advice to the highly trained program, though he seemed committed to it. She knew what they would do, but the likelihood of their success was dwindling in her mind even as they aimed faster and faster upon their target. With a crash they broke through the glassed protective wall and Rinzler grabbed a hold of her arm, pulling her close behind him as at the height of their cycle's arch, they jumped off of it to make the rest of the distance.

Reye had closed her eyes for the fall, clinging tightly to the body in front of her where there would otherwise be nothing in such a plummet. But they did not fall, at least not into the deep chasm she had expected, but instead dropping roughly to a landing on the other side. She and Rinzler hit the ground hard and rolled over each other multiple times until they both lay crumpled after their momentum had been spent. Rinzler was the first to rise, stiffly, but sound enough upon his feet. He looked up and over toward the henchman he had once worked with, whose responsibility now was to be the means of his de-resolution. He turned away.

Kneeling down, the helmeted program shook the young woman's shoulders slightly and jarred her reboot until her eyes opened to him, unfocused for a moment while she grew fully cognizant once more. He did not know her name, or at least could not relocate it from his memory as yet, and so did not say anything as she sat up.

Her eyes went from him, to the great chasm, to the opposing cliff, and then back to him. "It worked?" The program's voice was quiet and he regarded her again, intently. Her vocals had triggered something in him earlier. What was it? She stood up unsteadily and found her equilibrium finally. "I, I want to know why you did that. Why haven't you derezzed me?" The questions came at last, as he had expected, but knew there had been no time for until now. Indeed, _why_?

Reye watched him watching her, listening to the constant purr of pulsating sound that reverberated from his person. "Can you even speak?" When he didn't answer or move to attempt to, she became embarrassed, turning away quickly and taking a few steps to hide herself. "I'm sorry, I just… I don't understand." Her memories flashed back to the defining moment only seconds ago, her life in his hands and the first act of mercy she'd ever seen from the warrior. She had been thinking of Tron. "Tron." She breathed the name, hoping it might give her some light as he always had when he was at her side.

She heard the program shift behind her and something dropped to the rocky ground, causing her to turn and see what it had been. It was Rinzler's helmet lying on the gravel now, but when she looked up it was not the Rinzler she knew or had thought she'd known. "_Tron_?" Her throat constricted. It couldn't be.

Only a fraction changed from what she remembered of his face, her lover stood before her with a silent awe in his stance. "Reye…" Rasped his voice had become, but it _was_ his voice, the deep sound she calmed herself with for countless cycles. He stepped toward her thankfully, as she could not force herself to move from shock, and gathered her into his arms, embracing the woman he had been taken away from, body and mind. Tron pulled away from her just enough to touch his beloved's face, stroking away the tears from a porcelain cheek and leaning in to taste the salt and sweet of her mouth for the first time in years.

As he held her the pulse of his energy slowly faded bright again and matched her white, purging all the deep blood red he had been full of before.


End file.
